Alcampo buys 235 Grupo Dia stores in Asturias and seven other regions

It will start at the end of the year and by mid-2023 the process should be completed. It will be then that the agreement concluded by the Dia group with Alcampo for the sale of 235 supermarkets will become reality. Asturias is one of the communities most affected by this operation, along with Madrid, Aragon, Castile and León, Galicia, Navarre and the Basque Country. With this measure, Grupo Dia decides to divest more than two hundred stores to “reinvest the funds obtained in its new store model and thus accelerate the consolidation of its activity in Spain based on its proximity store strategy” , he said through a statement yesterday.

The operation, they explain, is limited to supermarkets with an average size of around 760 square meters that have an “attractive” location. At the same time, as part of the operation, the warehouse that the Group has in the town of Villanubla, in Valladolid, will also be transferred.

From the Dia group, it is insisted that the number of workers who will be affected or the specific stores are not yet known, since the transaction is subject to the approval of the competition authorities and other authorizations which should be obtained over the next few weeks. In this sense, the transmission of the portfolio of the operation will begin upon receipt of said approvals and will be carried out, specify the same sources, by blocks of establishments grouped together on different dates.

After hearing the news, CC OO assured that it would demand “full guarantees for workers”. “We understand that this corporate operation seems to have a commercial logic both from the point of view of the sizing of Grupo Dia and the expansion of the convenience format by Alcampo, and we will focus our claims on the requirement of express guarantees of maintenance employment and working conditions. for these 3,600 people, by signing a professional integration agreement with the legal representation of the workers,” the unions said.

Increase

“Our ambition is to adapt the new stores to our brand, as well as to integrate the 3,600 employees into the Alcampo team. Thus, the objective of becoming the phygital leader in Spanish food retail is reinforced, ”they said yesterday from Alcampo.

As “an important operation” because it means “to establish oneself”, insists Dia to explain the decision. “Proximity is our beacon and has been our great lever for success. It’s been in our DNA since the birth of our first store in Madrid in 1979. We are sure that by focusing our efforts on what we do well, we can continue to move forward in fulfilling our strategic roadmap. “said Dia Group Executive Chairman Stephan DuCharme.

He also said he was satisfied with the operation Yves Claude, Chairman and CEO of Auchan Retail, who assured that this takeover will strengthen the presence of his group “in a strategic country for our brand”. He also specified that it will be a question of completing the multiformat network, “with the ambition of accelerating our growth in Spain to become the leader in the phygital food trade and thus be the preferred brand of the Spaniards”.

Grupo Día is the leading network of convenience stores, with nearly 6,000 own and franchised establishments in Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Argentina. Of its nearly 6,000 convenience stores, 2,700 are franchised.

The company has approximately 2,700 Día stores and 1,000 Clarel stores in Spain; 500 Minipreço stores in Portugal; 700 Día stores in Brazil and 900 in Argentina. Its more than 38,500 direct employees and 18,000 franchise associates.

“We have reviewed the quality of our products, a great effort has been made to promote our own brands and we have opted for new ones”, they repeat from Día to explain a new process of business transformation that will be added on the path started in 2019.